Supreme Court of the United States

Transcription

1 No. 18- IN THE Supreme Court of the United States BUCHWALD CAPITAL ADVISORS LLC, LITIGATION TRUSTEE TO THE GREEKTOWN LITIGATION TRUST, Petitioner, v. SAULT STE. MARIE TRIBE OF CHIPPEWA INDIANS AND KEWADIN CASINOS GAMING AUTHORITY, Respondents. On Petition for a Writ of Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit PETITION FOR A WRIT OF CERTIORARI JOEL D. APPLEBAUM LINDA M. WATSON CLARK HILL PLC 151 S. Old Woodward Ave. Suite 200 Birmingham, MI (248) MARK N. PARRY MOSES & SINGER LLP The Chrysler Building 405 Lexington Avenue New York, NY (212) MICHAEL K. KELLOGG Counsel of Record GREGORY G. RAPAWY KATHERINE C. COOPER KELLOGG, HANSEN, TODD, FIGEL & FREDERICK, P.L.L.C M Street, N.W. Suite 400 Washington, D.C (202) (mkellogg@kellogghansen.com) March 18, 2019

2 QUESTION PRESENTED Whether the Bankruptcy Code abrogates the sovereign immunity of Indian tribes.

3 ii PARTIES TO THE PROCEEDINGS Petitioner Buchwald Capital Advisors LLC, Litigation Trustee to the Greektown Litigation Trust, was the plaintiff in the bankruptcy court, the appellant and appellee at different times in the district court, and the appellant in the court of appeals. Respondents Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians and Kewadin Casinos Gaming Authority were defendants in the bankruptcy court, appellants and appellees at different times in the district court, and appellees in the court of appeals. Barden Development, Inc., Barden Nevada Gaming, LLC, Maria Gatzaros, Ted Gatzaros, Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Indians, Dimitrios ( Jim ) Papas, and Viola Papas were defendants in the bankruptcy court that did not participate in the appeals relevant to this petition. Contract Builders Corporation; Greektown Casino, LLC; Greektown Holdings, LLC; Greektown Holdings II, Inc.; Kewadin Greektown Casino, LLC; Monroe Partners, LLC; Realty Equity Company Inc.; and Trappers GC Partner, LLC were debtors in the bankruptcy court that did not participate in the appeals relevant to this petition.

4 iii RULE 29.6 STATEMENT Pursuant to Rule 29.6 of the Rules of this Court, petitioner Buchwald Capital Advisors LLC, Litigation Trustee to the Greektown Litigation Trust, states the following: Buchwald Capital Advisors LLC is not a subsidiary or affiliate of a publicly owned corporation. Buchwald Capital Advisors LLC is the Trustee of the Greektown Litigation Trust, which was created pursuant to the confirmed plan of reorganization of Greektown Holdings, LLC, et al.

5 iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page QUESTION PRESENTED... i PARTIES TO THE PROCEEDINGS... ii RULE 29.6 STATEMENT... iii TABLE OF AUTHORITIES... vii OPINIONS BELOW... 1 JURISDICTION... 1 STATUTORY PROVISIONS INVOLVED... 1 INTRODUCTION... 2 STATEMENT... 4 REASONS FOR GRANTING THE PETITION I. THE CIRCUITS ARE IN ACKNOWL- EDGED CONFLICT ON WHETHER TRIBES ARE IMMUNE FROM FED- ERAL BANKRUPTCY JURISDICTION II. WHETHER TRIBES ARE IMMUNE FROM FEDERAL BANKRUPTCY JURISDICTION IS AN IMPORTANT QUESTION III. THE COURT OF APPEALS INCOR- RECTLY HELD THAT TRIBES ARE IMMUNE FROM FEDERAL BANK- RUPTCY JURISDICTION CONCLUSION... 27

6 v APPENDIX: Opinion of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, In re Greektown Holdings, LLC, Nos & (Feb. 26, 2019)... 1a Opinion and Order of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, Buchwald Capital Advisors, LLC, etc. v. Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, et al., Case No. 16-cv & Bankr. Case No (Jan. 23, 2018)... 39a Opinion on Remanded Sovereign Immunity Waiver Issue of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, In re Greektown Holdings, LLC, et al., Case No (Sept. 29, 2016)... 72a Opinion and Order of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, In re Greektown Holdings, LLC, Case No & Bankr. Case No (June 9, 2015)... 99a Opinion of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, In re Greektown Holdings, LLC, et al., Case No (Aug. 12, 2014) a Statutory Provisions Involved: 11 U.S.C. 101(27)...166a 11 U.S.C a 11 U.S.C a 11 U.S.C a

7 vi Constitution and Bylaws of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians (1975), attached as Exhibit A to Affidavit of Candace A. Blocher (Aug. 25, 2015), In re Greektown Holdings, LLC, et al., Case No (Bankr. E.D. Mich. Aug. 25, 2015) (reproduced as part of Designation of Record, In re Greektown Holdings, LLC, et al., Case No. 16-cv , Doc. 5, Pg ID (Bankr. E.D. Mich. Nov. 14, 2016)) a Chapter 44 of Tribal Code of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, attached as Exhibit B to Affidavit of Candace A. Blocher (Aug. 25, 2015), In re Greektown Holdings, LLC, et al., Case No (Bankr. E.D. Mich. Aug. 25, 2015) (reproduced as part of Designation of Record, In re Greektown Holdings, LLC, et al., Case No. 16-cv-13643, Doc. 5, Pg ID (Bankr. E.D. Mich. Nov. 14, 2016)) a

8 vii TABLE OF AUTHORITIES Page CASES Argentine Republic v. Amerada Hess Shipping Corp., 488 U.S. 428 (1989) Atascadero State Hosp. v. Scanlon, 473 U.S. 234 (1985)...11, 13 Babbitt v. Sweet Home Chapter of Cmtys. for a Great Oregon, 515 U.S. 687 (1995) Begier v. IRS, 496 U.S. 53 (1990) BFP v. Resolution Tr. Corp., 511 U.S. 531 (1994) Blatchford v. Native Village of Noatak, 501 U.S. 775 (1991) Brown, In re, BAP No. NC MaMeRy, 2006 WL (B.A.P. 9th Cir. Sept. 28, 2006) Central Virginia Cmty. Coll. v. Katz, 546 U.S. 356 (2006)...16, 17 Cherokee Nation v. Georgia, 30 U.S. (5 Pet.) 1 (1831)... 7, 22, 23 Connecticut Nat l Bank v. Germain, 503 U.S. 249 (1992) DBSI, Inc., In re, 869 F.3d 1004 (9th Cir. 2017) Dellmuth v. Muth, 491 U.S. 223 (1989)...25, 26 Diamond v. Chakrabarty, 447 U.S. 303 (1980) FAA v. Cooper, 566 U.S. 284 (2012)... 3, 25, 26 Grupo Mexicano de Desarrollo, S.A. v. Alliance Bond Fund, Inc., 527 U.S. 308 (1999)... 19

9 viii Gutierrez-Brizuela v. Lynch, 834 F.3d 1142 (10th Cir. 2016) Jamestown S Klallam Tribe v. McFarland, 579 B.R. 853 (E.D. Cal. 2017)...13, 14 Kimel v. Florida Bd. of Regents, 528 U.S. 62 (2000) Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma v. Manufacturing Techs., Inc., 523 U.S. 751 (1998)...18, 21 Krystal Energy Co. v. Navajo Nation, 357 F.3d 1055 (9th Cir. 2004)... 2, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 22, 23, 26 Mayes, In re, 294 B.R. 145 (B.A.P. 10th Cir. 2003) Merit Mgmt. Grp., LP v. FTI Consulting, Inc., 138 S. Ct. 883 (2018)...16, 19 Meyers v. Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin, 836 F.3d 818 (7th Cir. 2016), cert. denied, 137 S. Ct (2017)... 2, 9, 11, 14 Michigan v. Bay Mills Indian Cmty., 572 U.S. 782 (2014)...18, 19, 20, 21, 23 Molloy v. Metropolitan Transp. Auth., 94 F.3d 808 (2d Cir. 1996) Money Ctrs. of Am., Inc., In re, No. AP CSS, 2018 WL (D. Del. Mar. 29, 2018) Montoya, In re, 547 B.R. 439 (Bankr. D.N.M. 2016) Narragansett Indian Tribe v. Rhode Island, 449 F.3d 16 (1st Cir. 2006)

10 ix National Cattle Cong., In re, 247 B.R. 259 (Bankr. N.D. Iowa 2000) Oklahoma Tax Comm n v. Citizen Band Potawatomi Indian Tribe of Oklahoma, 498 U.S. 505 (1991)) Platinum Oil Props., LLC, In re, 465 B.R. 621 (Bankr. D.N.M. 2011) Russell, In re, 293 B.R. 34 (Bankr. D. Ariz. 2003) Sandmar Corp., In re, 12 B.R. 910 (Bankr. D.N.M. 1981)...15, 23 Santa Clara Pueblo v. Martinez, 436 U.S. 49 (1978)... 6, 8, 21 Sedima, S.P.R.L. v. Imrex Co., 473 U.S. 479 (1985) Seminole Tribe of Florida v. Florida, 517 U.S. 44 (1996) Star Athletica, L.L.C. v. Varsity Brands, Inc., 137 S. Ct (2017) Star Grp. Commc ns, Inc., In re, 568 B.R. 616 (Bankr. D.N.J. 2016) Turner v. United States, 248 U.S. 354 (1919) Union Bank v. Wolas, 502 U.S. 151 (1991) United States v. Beasley, 12 F.3d 280 (1st Cir. 1993) United States v. Monsanto, 491 U.S. 600 (1989) United States v. Testan, 424 U. S. 392 (1976)... 8 United States v. United States Fid. & Guar. Co., 309 U.S. 506 (1940)... 21

11 x United States v. Williams, 514 U.S. 527 (1995) United States ex rel. Mackey v. Coxe, 59 U.S. (18 How.) 100 (1856) Vianese, In re, 195 B.R. 572 (Bankr. N.D.N.Y. 1995) Walters v. Metropolitan Educ. Enters., Inc., 519 U.S. 202 (1997) Whitaker, In re, 474 B.R. 687 (B.A.P. 8th Cir. 2012) Wichita & Affiliated Tribes of Oklahoma v. Hodel, 788 F.2d 765 (D.C. Cir. 1986) Womelsdorf, In re, Bankr. No fra7, 2015 WL (Bankr. D. Or. June 11, 2015)...13, 14 CONSTITUTION AND STATUTES U.S. Const. amend. XI Bankruptcy Code (11 U.S.C.)... passim (10) (15) (27)... 1, 2, 4, 7, 8, 10, 12, 17, 19, 20, 22, (3) , 4, (a)... 2, 4, 10, 13, 14, 17, 19, 20, 23, 24

12 xi 106(a)(1) (a)(2) (a)(3) (a)(4) (b)(4) (a)(8) (a)(7) , 4, , 4, 6 Contract Disputes Act of 1978, 41 U.S.C et seq Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003, Pub. L. No , 117 Stat , 9, 14 Federal Tort Claims Act, 28 U.S.C. 1346, 2671 et seq Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976, 28 U.S.C. 1330, 1602 et seq Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. 701 et seq U.S.C. 572(a) U.S.C. 7451(a)(2) U.S.C. 4332(d)(4)(A)(i) U.S.C. 202(a)(1)(B)-(C) U.S.C. 4116(b)(2)(B)(ii)(I) U.S.C. 1254(1) U.S.C (2)... 22

13 xii OTHER MATERIALS 5 Collier on Bankruptcy (16th ed. 2017) National Indian Gaming Comm n, Gross Gaming Revenue Reports, at gov/commission/gaming-revenue-reports Charles Tabb, Law of Bankruptcy (4th ed. 2016) Webster s Third New International Dictionary (2002)... 20

14 Petitioner Buchwald Capital Advisors LLC, Litigation Trustee to the Greektown Litigation Trust, petitions for a writ of certiorari to review the judgment of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in this case. OPINIONS BELOW The opinion of the court of appeals (App. 1a-38a) is designated for publication, but not yet reported (it is currently available at 2019 WL ). The opinions and orders of the bankruptcy court and the district court (App. 39a-71a, 72a-98a, 99a-140a, 141a-165a) are reported at 584 B.R. 706, 559 B.R. 842, 532 B.R. 680, and 516 B.R. 462, respectively. JURISDICTION The court of appeals entered its judgment on February 26, The jurisdiction of this Court is invoked under 28 U.S.C. 1254(1). STATUTORY PROVISIONS INVOLVED Sections 101(27), 106, 544, and 550 of the Bankruptcy Code, 11 U.S.C. 101(27), 106, 544, and 550, are reproduced at App. 166a-171a.

15 2 INTRODUCTION The Bankruptcy Code abrogate[s] the sovereign immunity of any governmental unit, 11 U.S.C. 106(a), defined to include the United States, each of the States, and foreign governments; agencies and instrumentalities of federal, state, and foreign governments; and other foreign or domestic government[s], id. 101(27). That broad abrogating language permits bankruptcy trustees to bring actions against otherwise immune sovereigns to avoid and recover preferential and fraudulent transfers. The statute reflects Congress s determination that even governments must be included in the bankruptcy process in order to serve the fundamental, centuries-old policy of treating all creditors equally and fairly in bankruptcy. This case presents the question whether that legislative judgment, as discerned using traditional methods of statutory construction, unequivocally includes Indian tribes as governmental unit[s] whose sovereign immunity is abrogated. The Ninth Circuit held in 2004 that the Bankruptcy Code s abrogating provisions clearly cover Indian tribes because they are domestic government[s] within the plain and ordinary meaning of that phrase. Krystal Energy Co. v. Navajo Nation, 357 F.3d 1055 (9th Cir. 2004). In this case, a divided panel of the Sixth Circuit acknowledged Krystal Energy, but declined to follow it because the Bankruptcy Code does not refer to Indian tribe[s] in so many words. The court of appeals instead followed Meyers v. Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin, 836 F.3d 818 (7th Cir. 2016), cert. denied, 137 S. Ct (2017), which applied a similar analysis to the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of The result is a conceded circuit conflict on a pure question of federal statutory law.

16 3 The question on which the circuits are in conflict is an important one that warrants this Court s review. Fair and equal treatment of creditors in bankruptcy lies at the heart of federal bankruptcy policy. Leaving tribes and their enterprises out of that system threatens its integrity as illustrated here, where respondents caused $177 million to be transferred away from the insolvent corporate parent of a troubled Detroit casino and then invoked tribal immunity to bar any judicial remedy for their conduct. It is, of course, for Congress to determine which of the conflicting values of bankruptcy policy and tribal autonomy should prevail in this and similar cases. But deference to the legislature in matters of tribal immunity makes it all the more important that courts properly ascertain the legislature s will. The Sixth Circuit failed to do that here. The governing provisions of the Bankruptcy Code are broad, but not ambiguous: as the dissent put it, they show that Congress abrogated the sovereign immunity of any government, of any type, anywhere in the world. App. 31a (Zouhary, J., dissenting). The panel majority rejected that conclusion by comparing the Code to other statutes in which Congress used the particular words Indian tribe. In taking that approach, the court of appeals disregarded this Court s clear guidance that Congress need not state its intent in any particular way when it abrogates sovereign immunity, so long as its intent is clear from the words it did choose. FAA v. Cooper, 566 U.S. 284, 291 (2012). This Court should grant certiorari to resolve the conflict among the circuits; and it should reaffirm that the ordinary meaning of statutory words guides judicial decisions as much in cases involving tribes as in others.

17 4 STATEMENT Section 106 of the Bankruptcy Code abrogate[s] the sovereign immunity of a governmental unit. 11 U.S.C. 106(a). That section lists 59 sections of the Code to which abrogation extends including, as relevant here, 544 and 550, which authorize a bankruptcy trustee to avoid and recover certain transfers that creditors or others could have avoided under applicable nonbankruptcy law. See id. 106(a)(1). A federal bankruptcy court may hear and determine any issue arising with respect to the application of [those 59] sections to governmental units. Id. 106(a)(2). Should it find the governmental unit liable, the court may issue against that unit an order, process, or judgment, including an order or judgment awarding a money recovery. Id. 106(a)(3). The court may enforce[]... any such order, process, or judgment against any governmental unit, but such enforcement shall be consistent with appropriate nonbankruptcy law applicable to such governmental unit. Id. 106(a)(4). The term governmental unit is in turn defined by the Code as mean[ing] : United States; State; Commonwealth; District; Territory; municipality; foreign state; department, agency, or instrumentality of the United States (but not a United States trustee while serving as a trustee in a case under this title), a State, a Commonwealth, a District, a Territory, a municipality, or a foreign state; or other foreign or domestic government. Id. 101(27). This case involves the application of 106(a) and 101(27) to respondent Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians (the Tribe ) and to its political subdivision respondent Kewadin Casinos

18 5 Gaming Authority (the Authority ). That application occurred during the resolution of the 2008 bankruptcies of Greektown Casino, LLC (the Casino ), which owns and operates a gaming facility in downtown Detroit, Michigan; of the Casino s owner from 2005 to 2008, Greektown Holdings, LLC ( Holdings ); and of other corporate entities related to Holdings and to the Casino (collectively, the Debtors ). 1. The events leading to the Casino s ruin began in At that time, the Tribe already partly owned the Casino through several corporate layers; it then bought out the other owners to acquire complete indirect ownership of the Casino. App. 2a. Despite the formal separation of the Tribe and the Casino in terms of corporate structure, petitioner alleges and the courts below all assumed that the Tribe in fact exerted complete dominion and control over the Casino, including its day-to-day operations. App. 4a n.1. As part of the 2000 transaction, the Tribe promised to pay the Casino s former part-owners $265 million over the ensuing years. App. 2a. In 2002, to obtain needed permissions from the City of Detroit (the City ), the Casino entered into a development agreement with the City and the City s Economic Development Corporation. App. 2a; Compl Under that agreement, the Casino promised to build a 400-room hotel with a theater, a ballroom, a convention area, and a 4,000-vehicle parking facility. Compl. 34. The Casino s promises to the City committed it to spend at least $200 million. App. 2a; Compl References to Compl. _ are to the Complaint filed in the bankruptcy court on May 28, 2010 (Case No ). It is reproduced as part of the Designation of Record, In re Greektown Holdings, LLC, et al., Case No. 16-cv-13643, Doc. 5, Pg ID (Bankr. E.D. Mich. Nov. 14, 2016).

19 6 In 2005, the obligations to the former owners and to the City were placing the Casino and other Debtors under great financial strain. App. 2a-3a. In response, the Tribe refinanced the Casino s debt and created Holdings to be the Casino s direct owner. Id. The Tribe continued to control the Casino s day-to-day operations through its own officials. App. 3a-4a & n.1, 75a-76a. From the financing proceeds, the Tribe caused Holdings to transfer $177 million to or for the benefit of various parties, including $6 million to the Tribe through its political subdivision, the Authority. App. 3a. The refinancing and transfers left Holdings with negative equity of $138.5 million on its balance sheet even before taking into account the Casino s obligation to spend $200 million to fulfill its promises to the City. Compl On May 29, 2008, the Debtors filed voluntary petitions under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code. App. 3a-4a. On May 28, 2010, the official committee of the Debtors unsecured creditors began an adversary proceeding to avoid the $177 million transferred in the 2005 refinancing and recover that amount under 11 U.S.C. 544 and 550. The creditors alleged that the transfers were constructively fraudulent because they rendered Holdings insolvent and unable to pay its debts, and they were made either for no consideration or for consideration that was inadequate. App. 4a. Petitioner Buchwald Capital Advisors LLC (the Trustee ) was later appointed as trustee of a litigation trust to pursue those claims, and substituted for the creditors committee as plaintiff. App. 142a n.1. The Tribe moved to dismiss, arguing that the Bankruptcy Code s language did not unequivocally abrogate tribal sovereign immunity under Santa Clara Pueblo v. Martinez, 436 U.S. 49 (1978).

20 7 On August 12, 2014, the bankruptcy court (Shapero, J.) denied the Tribe s motion to dismiss. App. 141a- 165a. The court identified the question before it as whether the phrase or other foreign or domestic government, in 101(27), includes Indian tribes and thus abrogates their sovereign immunity. App. 144a. It reasoned that Indian tribes are clearly and unequivocally governments, in part because [b]y the very definition of sovereign immunity, only governmental entities hold it. App. 149a-150a (emphasis omitted). It relied on this Court s long recogni[tion] that Indian tribes are territorially domestic, quoting, among other cases, Cherokee Nation v. Georgia, 30 U.S. (5 Pet.) 1, 17 (1831), in which Justice Marshall described tribes as domestic dependent nations, and rejecting the Tribe s argument that tribes are part of a separate category that transcends the foreign/ domestic dichotomy. App. 150a-152a. The court also rejected the Tribe s argument that Congress must explicitly use[] the words Indian tribe (or similar language) to abrogate tribal immunity, App. 156a, finding the Bankruptcy Code perfectly... clear, despite not using the magic words. App. 160a-161a. The Tribe appealed to the district court. On June 9, 2015, that court (Borman, J.) reversed, App. 99a-140a, concluding that it could not say with perfect confidence that Congress intended, by using the generic phrase other domestic governments in 101(27), to clearly, unequivocally, unmistakably and without ambiguity abrogate tribal sovereign immunity in 106(a). App. 105a. In reaching that conclusion, the court acknowledged that [t]here cannot be reasonable debate that Indian tribes are both domestic... and... are fairly characterized as possessing attributes of a government. App. 122a. Nevertheless, the court found it dispositive that there is not one example

21 8 in all of history where the Supreme Court has found that Congress intended to abrogate tribal sovereign immunity without expressly mentioning Indian tribes somewhere in the statute, and that, in many instances, when Congress did mean to abrogate tribal immunity, it did use the magic words Indian tribes in doing so. App. 123a (emphasis omitted). The district court remanded for further proceedings concerning the Trustee s alternative argument (not raised here) that the Tribe and the Authority had waived sovereign immunity by causing the Debtors to invoke federal bankruptcy jurisdiction at a time where the Tribe s officials controlled the Debtors day-to-day operations and disregarded their corporate forms. The bankruptcy court rejected the waiver argument, dismissing the Trustee s claims entirely and entering final judgment for the Tribe. App. 72a-98a. The district court affirmed. App. 39a-71a. 3. The Trustee appealed to the Sixth Circuit. On February 26, 2019, a divided panel affirmed. App. 1a-38a. The majority (Clay, J., joined by Griffin, J.) stated that a useful place to start was Congress s knowledge and practice regarding the abrogation of tribal sovereign immunity in 1978, App. 8a, when the current Bankruptcy Code (including 101(27)) was first enacted. At that time, the court observed, Congress would have been aware of Santa Clara Pueblo, which held that Congress s intent to abrogate tribal immunity must be unequivocally expressed, 436 U.S. at 58 (quoting United States v. Testan, 424 U. S. 392, 399 (1976)) an instruction that the court argued must be read literally to require no doubt about [Congress s] intent. App. 9a (emphasis omitted). It further suggested that Congress understood the meaning of unequivocal because statutes other than the Bankruptcy Code, passed in the 1970s and

22 9 later, used the phrase Indian tribe when authorizing lawsuits against tribes. App. 8a-9a & n.3. The court of appeals agreed with the bankruptcy court that previous courts addressing the question before it had reached irreconcilable conclusions and suggested that such disagreement was [o]stensibly evidence enough that Congress has left doubt about its intent. App. 9a (quoting App. 110a) (emphasis omitted). Representing one side of the conflict, the court cited the Ninth Circuit s Krystal Energy decision, which held... that Congress did unequivocally express an intent to abrogate tribal sovereign immunity. App. 9a-10a (citing 357 F.3d at 1061). Representing the other side, the court cited Meyers v. Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin, 836 F.3d 818 (7th Cir. 2016), cert. denied, 137 S. Ct (2017), a case involving not the Bankruptcy Code, but the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 ( FACTA ) a statute that the court believed contained language functionally equivalent to the Code provisions at issue here. App. 10a. The court of appeals chose to follow Meyers. Like the district court, the Sixth Circuit acknowledged the absence of reasonable debate that tribes are... domestic and possess[] attributes of a government. App. 14a (quoting App. 122a). Nevertheless, it contended, [e]stablishing that Indian tribes are domestic governments does not lead to the conclusion that Congress unequivocally meant to include them when it employed the phrase other foreign or domestic government. App. 15a (emphasis omitted). To support that conclusion, it relied on the lack of any case from this Court holding that Congress intended to abrogate tribal sovereign immunity without expressly mentioning Indian tribes somewhere in the statute, App. 16a (quoting Meyers, 836 F.3d at 824);

23 10 on circuit court cases holding tribal immunity abrogated by statutes that did use the words Indian tribe, id.; and on other cases holding immunity not abrogated by statutes that did not, id. The court of appeals conceded that Congress need not use magic words to abrogate tribal sovereign immunity and claimed that it was not hold[ing] that specific reference to Indian tribes is in all instances required to abrogate tribal sovereign immunity. App. 17a. In a footnote, it suggested that a statute stating that sovereign immunity is abrogated as to all parties who could otherwise claim sovereign immunity, App. 17a n.10 (quoting Krystal Energy, 357 F.3d at 1058), might be sufficiently unequivocal to satisfy its test. It further rejected the Trustee s additional arguments that other provisions of the Code using the phrase governmental units undisputedly apply to Indian tribes, App. 18a; and that, if the phrase other... domestic government does not encompass tribes, it has no identifiable meaning, App. 19a. In a separate part of its opinion, the court of appeals also affirmed the lower courts ruling that the Tribe had not waived its immunity on the facts of this case. App. 21a-29a. Judge Zouhary dissented. [B]egin[ning] with the text, he observed that 106(a) s statement that sovereign immunity is abrogated as to a governmental unit is an explicit, unmistakable statement from Congress that it intends to abrogate sovereign immunity so that [t]he sole remaining question is whose sovereign immunity. App. 31a. He found the answer in 101(27), with its long list of government entities and, on top of those, any other foreign or domestic government. Id. Reading those provisions together, he concluded that Congress abrogated the sovereign immunity of any government, of any type, anywhere in the world. Id. He further reasoned that

24 11 an Indian tribe is a domestic government based on the ordinary meaning of that phrase: a tribe is domestic because it resid[es] and exercis[es] its sovereign authority within the territorial borders of the United States, and it is a form of government because it exercises political authority on behalf of and over its members. App. 32a. To confirm that natural reading, Judge Zouhary pointed to examples from this Court s cases and from other statutes where tribes are referred to as being domestic and as being governments. App. 32a-33a. Judge Zouhary also disagreed with the majority s contention that the Seventh Circuit s decision in Meyers was on point, observing (among other differences) that FACTA makes no mention of sovereign immunity, [but] the [Bankruptcy] Code targets it directly. App. 34a-35a. He conceded, however, one point of fundamental[] disagree[ment] with Meyers and the majority: whether it is important that the Bankruptcy Code does not mention the words Indian tribe. App. 36a. He contended that the judicial task... [of] determin[ing] whether the language of the statute contains an unequivocal expression of intent to abrogate sovereign immunity, App. 37a (quoting Atascadero State Hosp. v. Scanlon, 473 U.S. 234, 242 (1985)), does not require demand[ing] that [Congress] use the same words... as it has in the past, id. After finding clear evidence of congressional intent to abrogate in the statute s text, Judge Zouhary further observed that the majority s opinion also gave short shrift to the Bankruptcy Code s purpose of establishing and enforcing a fair and equitable distribution procedure under which all governments must play by the rules. App. 37a-38a.

25 12 REASONS FOR GRANTING THE PETITION The decision of the Sixth Circuit acknowledges a conflict with the Ninth Circuit on the question presented: whether the Bankruptcy Code abrogates tribal sovereign immunity. That is a pure question of federal statutory law, and this case presents it cleanly. The question is important both because it recurs frequently in the bankruptcy courts and because it involves two weighty, competing interests: the uniformity and integrity of the federal bankruptcy system on one hand, and the autonomy of tribal governments on the other. Review is warranted to resolve the disagreement among the circuits about how Congress struck that balance. I. THE CIRCUITS ARE IN ACKNOWLEDGED CONFLICT ON WHETHER TRIBES ARE IMMUNE FROM FEDERAL BANKRUPTCY JURISDICTION The court of appeals correctly described the federal courts as having reached two irreconcilable conclusions, App. 9a (quoting App. 110a), as to whether the Bankruptcy Code abrogates tribal sovereign immunity. It also correctly identified the Ninth Circuit s decision in Krystal Energy Co. v. Navajo Nation, 357 F.3d 1055 (9th Cir. 2004), as representing one side of that split. Krystal Energy addressed the same question presented here and reached the opposite result, finding it clear from the face of 106(a) and 101(27) that Congress did intend to abrogate the sovereign immunity of all foreign and domestic governments and certain[] that Indian tribes are... governments, whether considered foreign or domestic. Id. at 1057 (quoting 101(27)). The Ninth Circuit further reasoned like the dissent here, App. 36a that it did not matter whether Congress used the specific

26 13 words Indian tribes because the ordinary, allencompassing meaning of the term other foreign or domestic governments made the statute sufficiently unequivocal. Krystal Energy, 357 F.3d at The Ninth Circuit also highlighted the Bankruptcy Code s explicit[] use[] [of] the terms sovereign immunity and abrogate. Id. On that basis it distinguished cases holding that a general authorization for suit in federal court, applying to a group of sovereign and non-sovereign defendants, is not... sufficient to abrogate immunity. Id. at 1060 (quoting Atascadero State Hosp. v. Scanlon, 473 U.S. 234, (1985)) (emphasis omitted). Unlike the provisions of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 at issue in Atascadero, 106(a) does not simply authorize suit in federal court under the Bankruptcy Code it specifically abrogates the sovereign immunity of governmental units, a defined class that is largely made up of parties that could claim sovereign immunity. Id. Accordingly, merely interpret[ing] the statute s reach in accordance with both the common meaning of its language and the use of similar language by the Supreme Court was enough to conclude that Congress unequivocally expressed its intent to abrogate Indian tribes immunity. Id. Krystal Energy remains good law in the Ninth Circuit, as confirmed by decisions of bankruptcy and district courts interpreting and applying its holding. Examples include Jamestown S Klallam Tribe v. McFarland, 579 B.R. 853 (E.D. Cal. 2017), which followed Krystal Energy in holding a tribal government not immune from a fraudulent transfer action, see id. at ; In re Womelsdorf, Bankr. No fra7, 2015 WL (Bankr. D. Or. June 11, 2015), which applied Krystal Energy to a tribal

27 14 corporation, reasoning that the corporation s immunity derived solely from the corporation s status and purpose as an arm of the tribe, id. at *3; and In re Brown, BAP No. NC MaMeRy, 2006 WL (B.A.P. 9th Cir. Sept. 28, 2006), a turnover proceeding under 11 U.S.C. 542, which explained that under Krystal Energy tribal immunity was abrogated because 542 is one of the provisions of the Bankruptcy Code listed in 106(a), see id. at *4. If the present case had arisen in the Ninth Circuit, the Tribe s motion to dismiss would have been denied; conversely, if Jamestown S Klallam or Womelsdorf had arisen in the Sixth Circuit, the tribes or tribal entities motions to dismiss in those cases would have been granted. The Sixth Circuit argued that its decision was supported by the Seventh Circuit s decision in Meyers v. Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin, 836 F.3d 818 (7th Cir. 2016), cert. denied, 137 S. Ct (2017). As the dissent showed, App. 34a-37a, there are significant textual distinctions between the Bankruptcy Code and FACTA, the statute at issue in Meyers. 2 Nevertheless, Meyers discussed not only Krystal Energy, see Meyers, 836 F.3d at 825, but also the decision of the district court in this case, endorsing that court s contention that, because Congress did not expressly mention[s] Indian tribes somewhere in the Bankruptcy Code, the statute was not sufficiently unequivocal to abrogate tribal sovereign immunity, id. at 824 (quoting App. 123a). Meyers thus supports review, at a minimum, by confirming that the arguments supporting each side of the circuit conflict have 2 The Trustee argued to the court of appeals that Meyers could be distinguished, in part because the Seventh Circuit stopped short of disagreeing with Krystal Energy. See Pet r C.A. Reply (citing Meyers, 836 F.3d at 826).

28 15 been evaluated by multiple appellate courts, giving this Court confidence that it can expect to hear tested arguments on both sides of the issue. Other bankruptcy and district courts have also considered the issue and joined one side of the split or the other. Leaving aside decisions in this case, on the Ninth Circuit s side are decisions of bankruptcy courts in the District of New Mexico, the District of Arizona (before Krystal Energy), and the Northern District of New York. 3 On the Sixth Circuit s side are decisions of the district court in the District of Delaware, a bankruptcy appellate panel in the Eighth Circuit, and bankruptcy courts in the District of New Jersey and the Northern District of Iowa. 4 Those decisions, too, 3 See In re Platinum Oil Props., LLC, 465 B.R. 621, 643 (Bankr. D.N.M. 2011) ( 11 U.S.C. 106 together with 11 U.S.C. 101(27) embodies Congress clear and unequivocal abrogation of tribal sovereign immunity. ); In re Russell, 293 B.R. 34, 44 (Bankr. D. Ariz. 2003) ( [O]ther foreign or domestic government in 101(27) unequivocally, and without implication, includes Indian tribes as governmental units. ); In re Vianese, 195 B.R. 572, 576 (Bankr. N.D.N.Y. 1995) (tribes comprise governmental units within the meaning of Code 101(27) ); see also In re Sandmar Corp., 12 B.R. 910, 916 (Bankr. D.N.M. 1981) (tribe was a governmental unit under the definition then in effect). 4 See In re Money Ctrs. of Am., Inc., No. AP CSS, 2018 WL , at *4 (D. Del. Mar. 29, 2018) ( Section 101(27) s reference to other... domestic government[s] falls short of the clarity required for abrogation of tribal sovereign immunity. ) (alterations in original); In re Whitaker, 474 B.R. 687, 695 (B.A.P. 8th Cir. 2012) ( [I]n enacting 106, Congress did not unequivocally express its intent by enacting legislation explicitly abrogating the sovereign immunity of tribes. ); In re Star Grp. Commc ns, Inc., 568 B.R. 616, (Bankr. D.N.J. 2016) (following Whitaker); In re National Cattle Cong., 247 B.R. 259, 267 (Bankr. N.D. Iowa 2000) ( The Code makes no specific mention of Indian tribes. ). The Tenth Circuit s bankruptcy appellate panel has also stated in dictum that 106 probably

29 16 confirm that the merits of the question presented have been aired before many judges and are ready for this Court s review. They also demonstrate that the question presented recurs frequently in bankruptcy cases, underscoring the benefits of an authoritative answer from this Court. II. WHETHER TRIBES ARE IMMUNE FROM FEDERAL BANKRUPTCY JURISDICTION IS AN IMPORTANT QUESTION This Court has recognized the power to authorize courts to avoid preferential transfers and to recover the transferred property, embodied in the Constitution s Bankruptcy Clause, as a core aspect of the administration of bankrupt estates since at least the 18th century. Central Virginia Cmty. Coll. v. Katz, 546 U.S. 356, 372 (2006); see BFP v. Resolution Tr. Corp., 511 U.S. 531, (1994) (tracing the history of the law of fraudulent transfers back to 1570, and observing that [e]very American bankruptcy law has incorporated a fraudulent transfer provision ). The powers to avoid preferential and fraudulent transfers conveyed to courts and trustees help implement the core principles of bankruptcy by deter[ring] the race of diligence of creditors to dismember the debtor before bankruptcy, by promot[ing] equality of distribution, and by set[ting] aside transfers that unfairly or improperly deplete... assets or... dilute the claims against those assets. Merit Mgmt. Grp., LP v. FTI Consulting, Inc., 138 S. Ct. 883, 888 (2018) (quoting Charles Tabb, Law of Bankruptcy 6.1 (4th ed. 2016); Union Bank v. Wolas, 502 U.S. 151, 161 (1991); and 5 Collier on Bankruptcy , at (16th ed. 2017)) (ellipses in original); see also does not apply to tribes. In re Mayes, 294 B.R. 145, 148 n.10 (B.A.P. 10th Cir. 2003).

30 17 Begier v. IRS, 496 U.S. 53, 58 (1990) ( Equality of distribution among creditors is a central policy of the Bankruptcy Code. ). The importance of those core bankruptcy policies explains why bankruptcy jurisdiction is an exception to rules that otherwise protect vital sovereign interests of a broad range of sovereigns. Generally, money claims against the United States are subject to strict requirements under defined statutory procedures such as the Contract Disputes Act of 1978 or the Federal Tort Claims Act; but a bankruptcy court can hear voidable-preference or fraudulent-transfer claims against the United States using that court s own procedures. See, e.g., In re DBSI, Inc., 869 F.3d 1004, 1007 (9th Cir. 2017). Generally, the Eleventh Amendment and the doctrine of state sovereign immunity prohibit States from being sued in federal court without their consent; but this Court held in Katz that state consent to preference claims was given in the plan of the Convention, 546 U.S. at 379, before federal bankruptcy laws were even enacted. Generally, the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976 is the sole basis for obtaining jurisdiction over a foreign state in our courts, Argentine Republic v. Amerada Hess Shipping Corp., 488 U.S. 428, 434 (1989); but 106(a) and 101(27) by their plain terms make another exception to the immunity of foreign governments. Congress created that unique system, in which all governments must play by the rules, App. 38a (Zouhary, J., dissenting) and, except as the Code provides otherwise, by the same rules as private parties because of the unique responsibility of the bankruptcy courts to distribute estate assets equally among all creditors.

31 18 Knowing whether Indian tribes are the one class of sovereign left out of Congress s scheme is important in practice as well as in principle. Five years ago, in Michigan v. Bay Mills Indian Community, 572 U.S. 782 (2014), this Court reaffirmed the holding of Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma v. Manufacturing Technologies, Inc., 523 U.S. 751 (1998), that tribal immunity applies to off-reservation commercial activities. The principal Bay Mills dissent amassed evidence that, [i]n the 16 years since Kiowa, the commercial activities of tribes have increased dramatically. 572 U.S. at 822 (Thomas, J., dissenting). Justice Thomas cited reports and studies showing that tribally owned enterprises generate tens of billions of dollars in gaming revenue annually; engage in on-reservation activities including tourism, recreation, mining, forestry, and agriculture ; and, off-reservation, run the gamut,... sell[ing] cigarettes and prescription drugs online; engag[ing] in foreign financing; and operat[ing] greeting cards companies, national banks, cement plants, ski resorts, and hotels. Id. at Since then, tribally owned enterprises have continued to grow: for example, tribal gaming revenues went up four or five percent in each of the last three reported years, reaching $32.4 billion in If tribes are immune from bankruptcy court jurisdiction, then any tribe can place the assets of any tribally owned enterprise including, as this case illustrates, any controlled subsidiary of any tribally owned entity beyond the reach of creditors simply by transferring those assets to the tribe itself. It is hard 5 See National Indian Gaming Comm n, Gross Gaming Revenue Reports, at (follow link for Growth in Indian Gaming Graph ) (last visited Mar. 14, 2019).

32 19 to see why a rational tribal government would then leave assets in the possession of a tribally owned business entity that is reaching or approaching insolvency; and equally hard to see why non-sovereign creditors of such an entity would not move to secure assets before the tribe could act. That scenario a variation on the race... to dismember the debtor before bankruptcy, Merit Mgmt., 138 S. Ct. at 888, that bankruptcy law has long worked to prevent would not in the end make anyone better off. See Grupo Mexicano de Desarrollo, S.A. v. Alliance Bond Fund, Inc., 527 U.S. 308, 331 (1999) (warning against triggering a race to the courthouse by radically alter[ing] the balance between debtor s and creditor s rights which has been developed over centuries through many laws ). All this is not to deny that Indian tribes interests are also entitled to weight. The court of appeals thought that the doctrine of tribal [sovereign] immunity reflects a societal decision that tribal autonomy predominates over other interests. App. 30a (quoting Wichita & Affiliated Tribes of Oklahoma v. Hodel, 788 F.2d 765, 781 (D.C. Cir. 1986)) (alteration in original). This Court has made clear, however, that the societal decision of how to reconcile federal policies with tribal autonomy is not a decision for the courts, but one for Congress. See Bay Mills, 572 U.S. at 800 ( [I]t is fundamentally Congress s job, not ours, to determine whether or how to limit tribal immunity. ). The important questions at stake in this and similar cases should therefore be decided by interpreting the words that Congress wrote in 106(a) and 101(27). This case is an excellent vehicle for doing so.

33 20 III. THE COURT OF APPEALS INCORRECTLY HELD THAT TRIBES ARE IMMUNE FROM FEDERAL BANKRUPTCY JURISDICTION The plain language of the Bankruptcy Code abrogate[s] the sovereign immunity of a governmental unit, 11 U.S.C. 106(a), and defines a governmental unit to include a domestic government, id. 101(27). The court of appeals did not dispute as it hardly could that the Trustee had [e]stablish[ed] that Indian tribes are domestic governments, App. 15a, within the ordinary meaning of that phrase. It follows that the Tribe is a governmental unit within the meaning of the Bankruptcy Code and that its immunity is abrogated by 106(a). The requirement that Congress unequivocally express [its] purpose to abrogate tribal immunity, Bay Mills, 572 U.S. at 790, is satisfied, and the only rule of statutory construction necessary to decide this case is the cardinal canon before all others that a legislature says in a statute what it means and means in a statute what it says there. Connecticut Nat l Bank v. Germain, 503 U.S. 249, (1992). An Indian tribe is a government as ordinary speakers of English use that term. The general definition of a government is the organization, machinery, or agency through which a political unit exercises authority and performs functions. Webster s Third New International Dictionary 982 (2002). Indian tribes fit that definition because they exercise inherent sovereign authority, Bay Mills, 572 U.S. at 788 (quoting Oklahoma Tax Comm n v. Citizen Band Potawatomi Indian Tribe of Oklahoma, 498 U.S. 505, 509 (1991)), on behalf of their members. The Tribe here exercises its authority through a constitution that defines its governing body as its board of directors,

34 21 elected by majority vote, and includes a description of the history of the modern governmental organization of the Tribe and the process through which [t]he Tribe sought organization of its tribal government under a constitution. App. 173a, 176a. The board exercises the Tribe s legislative authority and has enacted a Tribal Code, App. 188a-198a; it appoints tribal officers who perform executive functions subject to the board s review, App. 181a-182a; and it has created a court to carry out the judicial function, App. 180a-181a, 192a. There is nothing equivocal about identifying this set of institutions as a government. Consistent with the common definition of government, this Court has used that term to refer to the political organization of an Indian tribe in the same decisions that have recognized tribal immunity. See, e.g., Kiowa, 523 U.S. at 758 (suggesting that the doctrine of tribal immunity from suit might have been thought necessary to protect nascent tribal governments from encroachments by States ); Santa Clara Pueblo v. Martinez, 436 U.S. 49, (1978) (stating that tribal immunity protects a tribal government s ability to maintain authority ); United States v. United States Fid. & Guar. Co., 309 U.S. 506, (1940) (referring to Indian tribes governmental organization ); Turner v. United States, 248 U.S. 354, (1919) (stating that the Creek Nation had the same free[dom] from liability as other governments, municipal as well as state ). As the bankruptcy court pointed out, it is only because the Tribe is a government that it can assert immunity at all: [b]y the very definition of sovereign immunity, only governmental entities hold it. App. 150a (emphasis omitted); see Bay Mills, 572 U.S. at 789 (describing a tribe s immunity from suit as one of its... governmental powers and attributes )

35 22 As additional evidence that the ordinary usage of government embraces tribes, Congress frequently uses the phrase tribal government to refer to an Indian tribe. See, e.g., 6 U.S.C. 572(a) (directing cooperation with State, local, and tribal governments ); 15 U.S.C. 7451(a)(2) (authorizing various cybersecurity activities that include State, local, and tribal governments ); 19 U.S.C. 4332(d)(4)(A)(i) (requiring sharing of best practices concerning a safety plan with State, local, and tribal governments ); 23 U.S.C. 202(a)(1)(B)-(C) (providing for funding of certain programs and projects administered by or associated with a tribal government ); 51 U.S.C (2) (authorizing research and development to enhance Federal, State, local, and tribal governments use of certain technologies); see also 25 U.S.C. 4116(b)(2)(B)(ii)(I) (referring to a government-togovernment relationship between the Indian tribes and the United States ). A tribal government also fits within the phrase foreign or domestic government. It is not analytically necessary to determine whether a government is foreign or domestic to apply 101(27), because the phrase foreign or domestic broadens rather than narrows the term government, making it clear there is no implied limitation either to foreign or to domestic governments. See Krystal Energy, 357 F.3d at 1057 ( logically, there is no other form of government outside the foreign/domestic dichotomy ). In any event, tribes are clearly domestic in relation to the United States, as this Court has said in cases including Cherokee Nation v. Georgia, 30 U.S. (5 Pet.) 1, 2 (1831) ( domestic dependent nations ); United States ex rel. Mackey v. Coxe, 59 U.S. (18 How.) 100, 103 (1856) ( the Cherokee territory is not a foreign, but a domestic territory ); and Blatchford v. Native Village

36 23 of Noatak, 501 U.S. 775, 782 (1991) ( in some respects, tribes are more like States than foreign sovereigns [t]hey are, for example, domestic ). Recently, in Bay Mills, the majority quoted Justice Marshall s formulation of domestic dependent nations from the Cherokee Nation case. 572 U.S. at 788. In her concurrence, Justice Sotomayor further observed that this Court has repeatedly relied on that characterization in subsequent cases, id. at (Sotomayor, J., concurring); stated that [t]wo centuries of jurisprudence... weigh against treating Tribes like foreign visitors in American courts, id. at 806; and described tribes as domestic governments, id. at 808, confirming that they are included in the ordinary and natural meaning of that phrase. Context in the Bankruptcy Code further confirms that the phrase governmental unit in 106(a) includes tribal governments. The Code gives governmental units special rights, such as bypassing the automatic stay for certain police and regulatory enforcement actions, 11 U.S.C. 362(b)(4); obtaining priority for certain unsecured tax debts, id. 507(a)(8); and asserting exemptions from discharge for certain fine[s], penalt[ies], or forfeiture[s], id. 523(a)(7). As the Tribe itself has never denied, tribes are governmental units for purposes of exercising those rights, see Sandmar, 12 B.R. at 916; see also Krystal Energy, 357 F.3d at Further, if a tribe is not a governmental unit, there is substantial question whether it would be entitled even to the rights of a nongovernmental creditor, such as filing a proof of claim rights the Tribe has exercised in this very case. 6 6 The term creditor in the Bankruptcy Code is restricted to creditors qualifying as an entity, 11 U.S.C. 101(10), and [t]he term entity includes person, estate, trust, governmental unit,